I am exactly like you and then I discovered a little trick. It takes some bravery initially, but it pays off nicely.
When I go to a new park, the first thing I do is go to the ride I am most afraid of and force myself to go on it. Then for the rest of the day whenever I get nervous about a different ride I can tell myself, "Well, you went on (X) and this ride isn't as scary as that".
It works for me. And even if you wind up not liking the ride, I find that there is always an extreme feeling of accomplishment for having conquered it.
Good luck!

In the end, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble (and probably $$$ too) if you just buy one from somebody who has already won one for $20 or $30. You could send the family off on a ride, make the buy and then pretend that you won it!
If you're going to do it legit, good luck. My advice is to not pick the game based on the prize you want. Pick the one that you actually have some skill at. I must have wasted a good $30 trying to win a giant Scooby on a "Wacky Wire" game before I finally conceded that the game is impossible...for me. (I finally won that giant Scooby at a different park on a basketball shoot.)
Usually, the only games I'll ever play at any amusement park are a basketball shoot (if the rims are standard diameter) and the one where you whack a frog onto the lillypad. The rest are either too stacked towards the house or I am just not skilled enough to win them...or both!

Exactly. Remember the lady that got killed after falling out of The Raven at Holiday World? She was an enthusiast and looking for more airtime, she undid her seatbelt and stood up while the ride was going down a drop. It was totally her fault, but the family sued both the park and coaster train manufacturer (PTC)...and won.

Well it's been 10 long years since my last visit but I am finally going to make it back to Kings Island this year! I just happened to get sent to a training in Cincy and wouldn't you know it, the training facility is 15 minutes from KI! :D
Not that it matters to you guys, but I'll be getting to visit on the evenings of July 7 & 8. This is a Monday and Tuesday.
My question is: Am I going to get lucky and have smaller crowds since it will be a Mon & Tue evening or am I still screwed? I know that's peak season and right after the 4th of July Holiday weekend. But it is just before Spirit Song (Christian Event) so I thought (hoped) that lots of people might be waiting to come once that starts.
Also, how does Speed Pass work?

That actually is very cool! And China is definitely the most intense looking version of the ride programs.
Assuming that the ride specifications are the same, there's no reason TR:TR couldn't do all of this. It would probably only take a simple software upgrade.
And the more I watch these videos, the more I am sure I would hate this ride. I'd probably throw up in fact. Back in the day, I rode a Vekoma Waikiki Wave (Quake at SFKK) which is essentially the same ride except the gondola can only rotate 180 degrees instead of 360. I wasn't too fond of that ride (rode it twice just to make sure) and this one looks even worse.
Maybe this upgrade is what they are doing to TR:TR right now!

They had fixed the sound on the ride, but it is closed now. I don't know what's going on.
In case you hadn't seen it, here's a super behind the scenes video of the completely working original version of TR:TR back when it first opened:
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That is a great video. I'm glad CDRide finally got their act together and made it a point to use appropriate ride video instead of stock footage between the onride part. After the backlash from the original Raptor on-ride at CP this year, the CEO of CDRide had the company go out and rework the video from scratch and considered all most all user complaints/suggestions in the process. (See this great thread for all the details: http://www.pointbuzz.com/cpplace.aspx?mode...p;page=3#318144)
As far as your nephew goes, it's a tricky game you played. Had he not liked the ride, you probably would have scared him away from loopers for life as well as given him trust issues. Thanfully, you landed on the other side of the coin this time. Sometimes I wish someone had lied to me back in the day and tricked me onto a looper. Maybe I wouldn't be so scared of them now if they had... :unsure:
But I thought he was great in the video. He was so calm though the whole thing! Like he was just watching clouds roll by or something. Even during the launch! Did he say if he was scared during that first ride? Did he move on to the Vortex? Definitely worth the $20. :)